The life and work of Felix Post (1913-2001): pioneer in the psychiatry of old age

Felix Post was a refugee from Nazi Europe. Appointed psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, London in 1947, he pioneered treatment of mental illness in older people clinically and through meticulous research. He had a reputation as a brilliant clinical teacher. His work helped set the scientific foundations for the development of the specialty of old age psychiatry in Britain and he inspired junior doctors who worked with him to specialize in the newly emerging discipline.

[Ten year jubilee of the journal "Advances in Gerontology"]

The article presents the report of the editorial board of the journal "Advances in Gerontology" devoted to 10th anniversary since the first publication. Analysis of character of the articles printed during last 5 years has been given, including their distribution by geography, departmental membership, and science themes. Geographic widening of the publications, increasing of number of institutions delivering the articles and of number of articles as well as number of the authors has been shown. These showings are the evidence of the fact that gerontology attracts more and more attention of the specialists.

Myths of ageing

Historical and contemporary images of ageing have generally reinforced negative stereotypes of old age. An examination of sculpture, painting, poetry, literature and film, as well as television, advertising, newspaper stories, birthday cards and road signs reveals that old age is often shown as being a time of loneliness, depression and physical decline. These conditions do occur but their prevalence and severity have been exaggerated. There are many myths of ageing that have been influenced by these representations: that old people with physical or cognitive decline are social problems; that families no longer care for their elders; that geriatric medicine is an unglamorous specialty. Low expectations of old people and ageist thinking can adversely affect how we speak of disadvantaged old people. The challenge is to question inaccurate assumptions. Key to the improvement of medical care of older people is to extend the teaching of geriatric medicine and improve and coordinate research.

History of geriatrics in Canada

Specialization is a pervasive movement in medicine. How specialties develop is a complex phenomenon and does not depend solely on the growth of knowledge. The history of geriatrics in Canada is presented as an example of specialization in our country. The gestation period extended over decades. Practitioners moved from partial specialization to a full-time practice in the care of older patients. Opposition to the emerging specialty was mounted by established fields of practice. The choices made by the leaders of Canadian geriatrics molded the evolution of the specialty and have contributed to its precarious status at the present time.

The development of palliative care programs in the Veterans Administration: Zelda Foster's legacy

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been a leader in program development and service delivery in the areas of geriatrics, hospice and palliative care for decades. Zelda Foster, MSW, serving as the Chief of Social Work Services at the Brooklyn VA Hospital for almost 20 years, was a force in the early days of the palliative care and hospice movement in the United States, publishing a seminal article in 1965, and contributing through educational initiatives, program development, information dissemination and mentorship of countless social workers. With an early recognition of the demographic imperative of aging veterans, the VA established a number of innovative programs which have been widely replicated outside of the VA. Zelda Foster was a central figure in the evolution of these programs and a strong and effective advocate for the inclusion of social workers. She deserves much credit for the fact that social workers are now centrally involved in an array of leadership activities in palliative and end-of-life care both within and outside of VA.

Lord Amulree (1900-83): the indefatigable advocate of older persons

Lord Amulree was an outstanding advocate of geriatric medicine in the United Kingdom. His interest in the subject started while he was working for the Ministry of Health and blossomed with his clinical appointment to the new geriatric unit at St Pancras Hospital in London. Here he established a thriving department, expounded his general and specific philosophies on the subject in numerous publications, and trained many junior members of staff who, in their turn, became advocates of the speciality. He used his position in the House of Lords to promote the cause of older persons. He is best remembered for his maxim of Adding Life to Years not Years to Life.

Gerontology's Future: An Integrative Model for Disciplinary Advancement

Scholars have debated the legitimacy of gerontology as a discipline since Metchnikoff coined the term more than 100 years ago. Recent developments such as the emergence of interdisciplinary aging theories and consensus on longitudinal research methods suggest that gerontology is materializing as a unique discipline, rather than a subset of another more established disciplinary tradition. In this article we review substantive evidence from gerontological theory and scholarship to suggest orienting principles for the emerging discipline of gerontology. We offer a conceptual framework of gerontology as a discipline that integrates contributions of biopsychosocial perspectives with well-established concepts of age, aging, and aged and multiple contextual elements. We conclude with a discussion of how our model relates to gerontology's progress, including examples of successful interdisciplinary research, and offer questions for gerontologists to consider for further advancement of the field.

An Original Approach to Aging: An Appreciation of Fritz Verzár’s Contribution in the Light of the Last 50 Years of Gerontological Facts and Thinking

The motivation of this review is the 120th anniversary of the birth of Fritz Verzár, founder of experimental gerontology. His major contributions to aging research are shortly reviewed and re-evaluated in the light of modern gerontological research. Verzár undertook aging research after his retirement from the Chair of Physiology at the Medical Faculty of Basel. His first experiments on aging of the rat tail tendon revealed an important mechanism of aging: an exponential increase of cross-linking of collagen fibres. This observation, correctly interpreted by Verzár as a new age-dependent mechanism, was shown later to be attributed to the Maillard reaction, the non-enzymatic glycosylation of protein (and nucleotide bases) amino groups followed by evolution of the reaction to advanced glycation end products (AGEs) involved in a number of harmful reactions. Many of these reactions were shown to be mediated by receptors recognizing AGE products (RAGEs). This was the first example of a post-synthetic (post-translational) reaction involved in the aging of biological macromolecules, especially those of the extracellular matrix. Verzár extended the research activity of his team to several other aspects of aging research, such as loss of muscular strength, nutritional requirements at high altitude, cell loss with aging, and ultrastructural studies, and started also the first longitudinal clinical study of aging in a Basel population. Modern gerontological research confirmed and extended Verzár's observations. His work on collagen cross-linking by glycation became of paramount importance in recent times because of the rapid increase of diabetes type II, combined with the metabolic syndrome, one of the major pathologies of modern times.

Fritz Verzár was born 120 years ago: his contribution to experimental gerontology through the collagen research as assessed after half a century

F. Verzár's experiments on the age-dependent increase of cross-linking of rat tail tendons in the 1950s represented the first demonstration of age-dependent modifications of extracellular matrix (ECM) macromolecules. This discovery preceded by several years the demonstration of cell-aging and showed that body constituents considered as metabolically "inert" do exhibit age-dependent modifications at the molecular level. Progressively the physiological mechanisms of collagen cross-linking were elucidated and it became clear that this mechanism does not explain the Verzár phenomenon. It was progressively elucidated that the Maillard reaction was involved in the age-dependent cross-linking of collagen. The role of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in collagen cross-linking, as well as their reaction with other macromolecules was convincingly demonstrated as an important factor of age-dependent modifications of cells and tissues. The Verzár phenomenon completed by the detailed chemistry of the Maillard reaction became thus a dominant paradigm in tissue aging. Verzár's name and discovery should therefore remain associated with these important progresses in aging research. The purpose of this review is to recall some of the details of Verzár's work which paved the way to his discovery and extended well beyond collagen aging.

Fritz Verzár was born 120 years ago: a personal account

Fritz Verzár, founder and one of the most important operator of experimental gerontology, was born 120 years ago at Budapest (Hungary) and passed away in 1979 at Basel (Switzerland) at the age of 93. This short paper, as well as the following one in this issue by Robert [Robert, L., 2006. Fritz Verzár was born 120 years ago: his contribution to experimental gerontology through the collagen research as assessed after half a century. Arch. Gerontol. Geriatr. 43, 13-43], intends to commemorate his human and scientific merits, which remained valid even after long decades after his death. The author of this paper was the last Hungarian pupil of Verzár; therefore, a personal touch of this commemoration could not be avoided and was not even wanted. Verzár was an exceptionally clever and realistic scientist and at the same time, a warm-hearted and honest man, who is remembered with deep respect and love.

Robert Robertson, FRS (1742-1829): physician to the Royal Hospital, Greenwich, 18th-century authority on 'fever', and early practitioner in care of the elderly

Robert Robertson was born in Scotland and trained to be a surgeon. In 1760, he served briefly on a whaling ship and then entered the Royal Navy. He subsequently had many postings, several of them to the tropics. He recorded his observations on fevers, scurvy and other illnesses. After 23 years of active service, he retired to private practice in Hampshire. However, later he rejoined the service and was appointed physician to the Royal Hospital, Greenwich, where later he was made a Director. During this period, he addressed the problems of illness after the days of active service. Robertson was thus an early practitioner in the care of the elderly. He retired in 1807 and died at Greenwich at the age of 87.

[Ten year anniversary of The Samara Scientific Research Institute "International Center for the Problems of the Elderly". Scientific achievements in gerontology and geriatrics]

The paper covers the decade period of activity of The Samara Scientific Research Institute "International Center for the Problems of the Elderly", which is part of Samara Regional Hospital for War Veterans. Basic research in gerontology and geriatrics are in focus of the article. It also contains selected information on research conferences and publishing activities over the decade.